Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic released on July 15, 2003, and in celebration of the game’s 10th anniversary, we’ve compiled another mod list for this classic. Last year, we brought you a list of five essential KOTOR mods. Now, we’ve prepared a special treat for fans of the Mandalorians, everyone’s favorite armorers.

In case you can’t find your old CDs, until July 22, you can grab KOTOR on Steam for 33 percent off.

5. Mandalorian Base

This mod gives players a new Mandalorian base to explore based on the Black Rakatan’s base that can be found on the Unknown World. While the mod is incomplete — the author hoped to add a merchant, dialogue, and reskins — it does offer a new Mandalorian style of armor.

4. Revenge of the Sith Clone Armors

I know, the clone armor isn’t actually Mandalorian, but it is based on Mandalorian design aesthetics that are self-evident. This mod, which was in production for years, adds a set of 12 Phase II Clone Trooper armors to the game. Most of these armor sets can be seen in Revenge of the Sith, while the rest were depicted in movie-related materials. The armor will replace all the Republic Uniforms seen throughout the course of the game.

As a bonus, the Republic embassy and hangar now have the Republic banners and digital panels displaying Republic symbol from the Clone Wars era.

3. Bralor the Mandalorian

This mod adds a new NPC merchant and mercenary to the game, a Mandalorian named Bralor Huff. He can be found in the Dantooine enclave and comes equipped with every state of the art Mandolorian weapon there is — at reasonable prices, to boot. The mod author even gave him a little back story: He is a mercenary who has fallen upon hard times and must resort to selling items to earn a living.

2. Sherruk – Attacks With Lightsabers

On Dantooine, you can find a Mandalorian named Sherruk who collects lightsabers as trophies. This mod does two things: first, when in combat, it makes Sherruk attack the player with a lightsaber in each hand; second, it places a total of seven lightsabers in his inventory for players to loot.

The obvious inspiration for this mod comes is General Grievous. Sherruk initially only had two lightsabers in his inventory; upping that number to seven makes him seem like a far more formidable opponent.

1. Mandalorian Ultimate Mod

You may have noticed that KOTOR includes three types of Mandalorian armor — blue, red, and yellow — but that players can only equip the blue armor.

That’s what mods are for.

This mod gives players the opportunity to wear all three armor colors. It also gives Canderous a suit of dark Mandalorian armor, upgrades the Dantooine Mandalorians, and includes a few surprises that I won’t spoil.

In a pair of farewell letters posted on BioWare’s Social Network website today, co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk announced they’re leaving the company after nearly 20 years.

Both founders say they’re leaving the company to pursue new opportunities and challenges, after having worked in video games since they founded the company with their own money in 1995. The Doctors, as they’ve been colloquially known for their medical backgrounds, each provided different reasons for leaving.

Zeschuk writes that he’ll be moving away from games “for a while, and there’s a strong possibility that I won’t be back.” Instead, he’ll be pursuing creativity in another realm about which he’s passionate: craft beer.

“The main project I will be working on is a web-based interview show called The Beer Diaries where I interview notable brewers and showcase their beers,” Zeschuk writes. “If things go well, I’ll work on other beer-related shows, apps and projects. If not, I’ll have drunk a lot of tasty beers and may be back in games or even something else completely different.”

Zeschuk noted that over the years, the passion he had for working in video games has diminished, which is part of the reason for his retirement. “I’ve reached an unexpected point in my life where I no longer have the passion that I once did for the company, for the games, and for the challenge of creation,” he writes.

Muzyka also says that he intends to leave the video game industry altogether, and in his letter states that he hopes to invest in and mentor new entrepreneurs.

“I believe strongly in the power of free enterprise to enable sustainable change, so my next ‘chapter’ will likely focus on an entirely new industry, something exciting, different and frankly downright scary – investing in and mentoring new entrepreneurs, and more specifically, the field of social/impact investing,” he says.

He also points to pursuing new challenges as the reason he’s moving on. “It’s not often that you can truly say you were able to pursue and achieve your dream job; I know how lucky I am to be able to say that now, in my early 40s,” Muzyka writes.

The big question remaining now is, how will this affect BioWare going forward? The company has faced some big challenges recently in the controversy surrounding Mass Effect 3 and the struggles of Star Wars: The Old Republic. We’ll keep an eye out for more information as it becomes available.

Recent news of SWTOR going free-to-play may have you thinking back on the spiritual predecessor of the MMORPG: Knights of the Old Republic. Maybe you’re a veteran of the series who has played through KOTOR multiple times, or maybe you’re buying it now to get some context for SWTOR. Whatever the case, you’ll want to play with mods.

So for anyone intent on playing KOTOR, we’ve assembled this list of five essential mods that will enhance your experience. Note that this isn’t strictly a list of the best mods, but rather the mods that you shouldn’t do without.

5. Brotherhood of Shadow: Solomon’s Revenge

This mod is essentially a fan-made expansion pack, boasting an epic storyline which encompasses new quests, new party members, new fully voiced characters, new items, and new areas, adding hours of additional gameplay to KOTOR. It even includes custom-modeled areas in addition to reskins of existing location models, and has been executed, overall, with a high level of polish.

4. Bastila Romance Enhancement

I don’t know how prudish the developers thought we are, but the whole fade to black before even seeing characters kiss is a degree of unnecessary censorship that can only be explained as a cop-out to avoid animating a kissing scene. Here’s a mod that actually shows some kissing during Bastila’s romance scene, and it includes a vital fix to a bug that could prevent the romance path from progressing entirely after the scene.

3. K1 Force Pack (2.0)

This mod adds 18 distinct Force powers to the game, available during character level-up. Seven of these are lightsaber forms, and the rest are regular powers, with 4 Light Side powers, 4 Universal powers, and 3 Dark Side powers.

As the mod effectively doubles the total number of selectable Force powers, the author vastly increased the number of powers that can be chosen each level-up to allow players to make use of the new powers. Some balance tweaks are included as well, such as slightly increased opponent difficulty and the elimination of cross-class skill penalties.

2. Enhanced Merchants for K1

Here’s a mod that makes merchants more useful. 90% of all the merchants you see will carry both a greater quantity of items in general, as well as a greater amount of useful items. A veteran KOTOR player can easily rack up more credits than he can spend — this mod seeks to fix that.

1. Super Skip Taris

Fed up of having to go through the Taris sequence every time you replay KOTOR? This mod allows you to skip Endar Spire, skip Taris while taking the Light Side options, skip Taris while taking the Dark Side options, all without sacrificing what you would normally lose by skipping the content. That means you receive all the items you would have otherwise received, all party members, Dark Side or Light Side points, experience points, and credits.

Subject to Reddit memes and other gamer humor, the Steam Summer Sale is a unique event in the calendar of electronic entertainment. Arriving abruptly, unexpectedly, it empties wallets and bank accounts with rapacious ease. Its low prices are particularly good at getting gamers to buy games that they might not ever play — better to have them “just in case,” though, right?

The Game Front staff is far from immune. Below follows a list of the games our intrepid writers and editors bought — out of impulse, obligation, or curiosity — with their hard-earned Game Front wages this time around. If you spot something you own also, join our Steam Group — let’s game together!

Ron Whitaker – Editor

Max Payne 3 – I loved the first two Max Payne games, but I hadn’t had a chance to pick the newest installment up yet. Seeing it 75% off made this deal a no-brainer.

The Darkness II – Ditto Darkness II. I was a huge fan of the first game, and the chance to see what Jackie is up to now at a discount price was too alluring to pass up.

Age of Empires III: The Complete Collection – I actually own a physical copy of AoE3, but the chance to pick up all the additional content for less than $10 got me to buy it again. Plus, I don’t have to brave the closet where all those discs are stored.

ARMA 2 & Operation Arrowhead – I bought these two just so I can get in on Day Z. All my friends are begging me to play, and now I can.

Alan Wake/Alan Wake’s American Nightmare – I own the collector’s edition of Alan Wake on 360, but the chance to replay it on the PC was something I couldn’t pass up, especially when they tossed in the follow-up as well.

Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition – Another title that DLC got me to buy again. I have my retail discs handy, but all the DLC for under $10 and the convenience of Steam had my wallet open again.

Saints Row: The Third – I’ve not had the chance to enjoy the mayhem that is Saints Row in its latest iteration. That will now be corrected.

RAGE – Now that many of RAGE’s initial issues have been patched, I can’t pass up a chance to go post-apocalyptic hunting again.

Thief Series – I had a ton of fun with these games over the years, but I have mislaid a couple of the discs I need to play them. Rather than actually tackle the task of finding them, I just decided to give Steam some money.

F.E.A.R. Series – Another franchise I bought just to save me the trouble of re-installing from discs. Plus, I haven’t gotten to play as Paxton Fettel in F.E.A.R. 3 yet.

Fallout: New Vegas Complete – Once again I re-buy a game to play it on PC instead of 360. Also, DLC. I’m sensing a pattern here.

From Dust – I had actually almost completely forgotten about From Dust until it popped on the Steam sale. I’m a sucker for god games.

Legend of Grimrock – Speaking of things I am a sucker for, how about an old school dungeon crawler?

Mark Burnham – Editor

Legend of Grimrock – It looks fascinating, and it was $5.99—which sums up my mind set during most Steam purchases. This one also caught some indie-buzz when it hit. A medieval fantasy-themed RPG, our own Phil Hornshaw described it as “addictive in a perfectly old-school way.” Sold! To the guy browsing the Steam sale with six dollars to burn.

The Binding of Isaac – It was $1.24, it’s been described as “Zelda-like” with its old school top-down action game formula, I’ve missed Zelda games recently (namely, A Link to the Past), it kicked up controversy when it hit due to its subject matter, and it was $1.24. There was literally nothing preventing this purchase.

Borderlands GOTY – The most expensive game I purchased, at a whopping $7.49. While I formerly owned the Xbox 360 version of Borderlands, I could never find the time to fully go down the rabbit hole. With Borderlands 2 out later this year, this seemed like a solid library addition. It’s the same motivation people have for “wanting to read the book before seeing the movie.” I want to play more Borderlands before I experience Borderlands 2.

Phil Hornshaw – Writer

My Steam summer sale experience was actually somewhat subdued this year, partially because I binged so hard on the last few Steam sales that there really wasn’t much I didn’t already have or really wanted. Steam has a knack for providing me with a game I’m marginally interested in for less than $5 or $10 however, so that facilitated snagging a few things that I’ll hopefully have a chance to get to later. I’ve also nabbed quite a few indie titles that will hopefully sate my need for new ideas.

Star Wars: The Knights of the Old Republic – Steam is a solid way to “future-proof” a lot of my games collection at a really low price. I played KOTOR what feels a long time ago (I’m not writing the second half here so just keep it in your brain), and my copy is for Xbox; so snagging a super-cheap PC copy means that if I ever get around to replaying it for the fifth or sixth time, I won’t have to rely on the kindness of Microsoft.

Vessel – An indie title I’ve been wanting to check out for a while, I was able to get Vessel for about $2.50. That it strongly recommends playing it with a gamepad, however, does not play in its favor, especially because the keyboard controls seem a little loose. Still, I’ve managed to give it 15 minutes of a test-drive, and the puzzle-solving and steam punk art style are engaging.

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth – After crowd-sourcing my search for new horror titles, good ol’ elder god Cthulhu came up and, seeing as I haven’t gotten on this one yet, I snagged it. Again: $6 or less.

Nexuiz – A friend said to buy it. It cost less than a cup of coffee. End of story.

Stacking – Another title I own on another platform, I managed to grab Stacking when it first appeared on the Playstation Network as part of my Playstation Plus membership. I generally dislike playing games on my Playstation and when I let Playstation Plus lapse, I’ll lose a lot of titles, including this one. I’d rather play $4 now than $50 later.

Space Pirates and Zombies – Now with bounty hunters, another game that pinged my radar months ago and which I scooped up with a $2.50 price tag. Does anyone else feel guilty when they do that? I feel like I’m taking food out of developers’ mouths when I grab their games for the same price I pay for a parking meter.

Ben Richardson – Writer

Limbo – I never got around to buying this on Xbox LIVE, and it’s high time I gave it a playthrough. I’m not gererally huge on puzzle platformers, but I like when games pick one thing to do and do it really well; Limbo’s striking aesthetic and somber mood seem like a good example of that.

Grand Theft Auto: III Pack – Shameful as it is, I’ve never experienced the exploits of Tommy Vercetti and Carl “CJ” Johnson. These games might be technologically a bit dated, but in terms of setting (and soundtrack!) they can’t be beat. The modding scene is also surprisingly robust.

Alan Wake Series – Sadly, I know everything that happens in this game because I edited the Game Front walkthrough. Still, it seems like a well-written game with some unique, creative mechanics, and the Stephen King-meets-Twin Peaks setting certainly intrigues.

Medieval II: Total War – I’m a dyed-in-the-wool Total War junkie, but I’ve generally given short shrift to Medieval II, which is regarded by some as Creative Assembly’s best effort. I had to return my borrowed copy to a friend — now I have my own.

Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition – Another classic I’m shamefully unfamiliar with. I like cyberpunk, I like RPG’s with lots of choice, and liked Human Revolution. Pretty much a no-brainer.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion – It’s been a while since I really got into a 4X game — more than a decade, maybe, dating back to my teenage obsession with Master of Orion 2. I hear a lot of talk about Sins of a Solar Empire, so I figured I’d see what the newest entry in the series had going on. (N.B. This might not actually have been on Steam Sale)

What did you buy during the Steam Summer Sale? Let us know in the comments, and please join the Game Front Steam Group if so inclined.

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http://www.gamefront.com/what-the-game-front-staff-bought-on-steam-sale/feed/3Game Front 1-on-1: ‘Marauder Shields’ Creator Koobismohttp://www.gamefront.com/game-front-1-on-1-marauder-shields-creator-koobismo/
http://www.gamefront.com/game-front-1-on-1-marauder-shields-creator-koobismo/#commentsTue, 10 Jul 2012 00:11:58 +0000Phil Hornshawhttp://www.gamefront.com/?p=175527Game Front 1-on-1 is a continuing series featuring interviews with and personality profiles on a variety of people in the vast and diverse community of gaming, including creative fans, passionate players, amateur developers and everyone in between.

WARNING: There are probably spoilers from Mass Effect 3 herein, as well as the “Marauder Shields” web comic. Read at your own risk.

For him, the story won’t be concluded for, roughly, 33 weeks; because that’s how long it’ll take him to create the ending he, and a whole lot of viewers, wanted to see from BioWare’s sci-fi saga.

The 26-year-old Koobismo is the creator, writer and artist behind the extremely popular “Marauder Shields” web comic and audio book series. Born of the aftermath of Mass Effect 3′s ending controversy, the comic started as a joke, riffing on the “His Name is Marauder Shields” YouTube video and the meme that followed.

Six episodes into the strip, though, something changed. “Marauder Shields” stopped being a comedy about a meme and started being something more. The comic’s distinctive style and writing echoed the feel of the game so well that it began to seem as though Koobismo was actually writing not just a piece of fan fiction, but something that could have been produced by developer BioWare itself. “Marauder Shields” started to feel like a piece of the world of Mass Effect.

“Up until Episode 6, it was just a comedy series, taking jabs at the original finale, which I loathed,” Koobismo said in an email interivew with Game Front (he prefers to use his DeviantArt handle over his real name, as that’s how people have come to know him). “As a friend of mine described it: ‘it’s just Koobs being a dick.’ But I really needed more. Mass Effect was the best sci-fi experience of my nerdy little life and I really didn’t want it to end with a nonsensical twist coming out of nowhere, casting a long, long shadow on the whole series, arbitrarily cancelling out its themes, breaking its backbone and laughing maniacally while doing so. For me, Mass Effect wasn’t finished, someone just took a 15-minute sequence out of a different story and pasted it into the wrong document.

“So, I’ve decided to do something about it… The initial target audience was ‘me,’ but if other people enjoyed it — then so be it. And so my alternative ending was born -– a 47-page-long scenario, closing off almost a hundred loose ends, plotholes and lore inconsistencies I found while playing Mass Effect 3.”

Already, “Marauder Shields” includes 27 episodes, with a new one created each week. Koobismo does all the writing and art for the series, although he’s not an artist: in fact, he’s a game writer and designer, lately working as a secondary game producer on casual games. And his native language? Polish.

“Although I create all the art for the Marauder Shields comic, I wouldn’t really call myself an artist — a storyteller, sure, but the art is just something I throw together to tell the story I’m weaving. And no, I haven’t done any pretty pictures before this project, nothing really worth showing. This is my first, and I’m learning a lot of new tricks with each and every episode.

“The art of the ‘Marauder Shields’ comics isn’t really something I put too much thought into initially — most of the shots are based on game screenshots, 3-D models or royalty-free photos that I then drag through a lengthy post-processing routine and finally overpaint and recolor to get the look I want. One of my main concerns was to keep the comics as close to the feel of the game as possible, which is the reason behind all the over-the-top lighting. Let’s just say it’s no accident the comic sometimes looks like a J.J. Abrams-directed Christmas Special.”

If you’ve longed to thrill to the amazing power of console graphics in 2003, but would prefer to do so on your PC, now’s your chance. The busy eyes over at Joystiq have stumbled on GameStop’s online listings for upcoming releases, and it confirms a July 17 release date for the Star Wars; Knights of the Old Republic collection for PC.

Now this might not be the actual title. As Joystiq notes, it’s listed as the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic I and II PC Bundle Pack on Amazon, though the box still says “Star Wars; Knights of the Old Republic collection”. We’ll keep you posted about the actual name.

Early on in Star Wars: The Old Republic, after arriving on Dromund Kaas for the first time, I was dispatched into the jungle to hunt down, infiltrate and ultimately smoke out a group of Sith cultists.

Diligent in my services to the Sith Empire, I accepted the mission and strode off into the jungle. As a Sith Marauder, I’m an Imperial enforcer, an apprentice to a powerful Sith Lord, and a super-powered bad-ass who channels The Force into his fists and lightsabers. Cultists are not a problem.

Trouble is, upon finding those cultists and posing as an initiate, I had a problem — I went “native.” These cultists were Revanites, after all — followers of the teachings of Knights of the Old Republic‘s Darth Revan, a former Sith Lord who found value in both the Dark and Light sides of the force.

Finally! I thought. A philosophy I can get behind.

See, I’m what you might call a conflicted Sith Lord. I’m not the kind of person who really goes out for being “evil” in my role-playing games. In the days of KOTOR, I struggled to go full Sith (though I did it to see how the story would play out on a second or third run through the game). In Mass Effect, I generally find myself opting for mercy and diplomacy. One time I kicked a little kid in Fable, felt bad, and stopped playing.

So being a Sith Lord is tough for me. Sure, it’s just a game, but the value I’m getting out of SWTOR is its story more than anything else. I’m not saying I’m a fully Lightside Sith Lord — I make Dark choices for the good of the Empire, for the good of myself, or when I feel a threat would be too great to be allowed to live. But opting to murder civilians just because they’re there just isn’t me.

On the one hand, I feel like I’m generating an interesting, tailored story for myself. Characters often respond to my Sith Lord with confusion and surprise, which is satisfying, and occasionally I earn myself allies who will serve my ends later. Generally, the tale of a Sith Lord who isn’t just evil for evil’s sake is one I want to hear.

GameFront houses over 60 network sites dedicated to hosting game files and has amassed a talented modding community over the years. These network sites can be accessed through the pulldown in the top banner on the GameFront home page.

Apart from being a hub for top-quality mods for recent games, the network sites host old classics. Maybe you’re new to the modding community. Maybe you just picked up an old game from the bargain bin. Or maybe you’ve played some of these old mods and think it’s time to reinstall them for nostalgia’s sake.

Whatever your case may be, here are some new and popular files we’ve pulled from our community.

Here’s a mod that brings six of Altair’s weapons from Assassin’s Creed into Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. There’s a fine line between a Jedi and an Assassin, and that fine line can be strung around someone’s throat and used to garrote them.

One of the weapons serves as a replacement, while the others are five “sabers.” All of six come with blood splatter effects, because Star Wars just doesn’t have enough gore, frankly.

This isn’t a flashy mod that lets you shoot lasers from your eyes or fly like Superman, but it’s nonetheless been an extremely popular file on GameFront throughout the years because it’s an indispensable utility. With it, you can edit your Save files in Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republic 2.

You can add strength to your character, computer skills, extra feats, Force Powers, weapons or items — you can even change your name and class. All this also applies to your party members.

Here’s a user-made map for Command & Conquer 3 that goes by two names: Sector-76-E_Remapped, and Barrier_Failure — named after the protective city barriers that failed under Nod and Scrin attacks. According to the author, it came in third place in a contest — what contest? We don’t know. This four-player map takes place in a red zone, both in a city environment and in the wasteland.

The universe of Warhammer 40,000 contains more chapters of Space Marines than a single game can ship with, but that doesn’t stop modders from adding in new chapters after release. This mod for Dawn of War: Soulstorm adds the following chapters:

Did you enjoy romping around the Italian countryside while completing the missions in Call of Duty: United Offensive? Here is a fan-made custom map for Call of Duty based on United Offensive’s Sicily missions and the real island, itself.

If you’re a modder — novice or veteran — join the community and contribute your creations. You may just end up creating something that will be downloaded tens of thousands of times.

If you’re not a modder, then browse around to find great mods for your favorite games. Just use the pulldown in the top banner of this page.

This isn’t a flashy mod that lets you shoot lasers from your eyes or fly like Superman, but it’s nonetheless been an extremely popular file on GameFront throughout the years because it’s an indispensable utility. With it, you can edit your Save files in Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republic 2.

You can add strength to your character, computer skills, extra feats, Force Powers, weapons or items — you can even change your name and class. All this also applies to your party members.

Apparently, a fair amount of content was cut from Knights of the Old Republic II, and this mod restores that missing content.

There are complete story arcs, each planet has some added content, you have party interaction, Dantooine is much more complete and the Battle is even more epic. There is also the much vaunted HK factory and new high quality voice-overs.

To quote from the trailer:

There was once a game. And it was released to the public incomplete, and left broken.

]]>http://www.gamefront.com/kotor-2-mod-tsl-restored-content/feed/3The Analog Gamer: Knights & Legendshttp://www.gamefront.com/the-analog-gamer-knights-legends/
http://www.gamefront.com/the-analog-gamer-knights-legends/#commentsTue, 19 Aug 2008 14:55:04 +0000Shawn Sineshttp://news.filefront.com/?p=27538A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… no longer ago actually. Before the Rebellion against the Empire, before the emo Darth Vader years, before the Clone Wars and even before George Lucas destroyed the Force with Midi-chlorians there was an age of bold knights and heroes. An age filled with warfare against the honorable yet ruthless Mandalorians and the misguided second Sith empire.

The era that brought Star Wars back to its core fantasy roots in Bioware’s excellent Knights of the Old Republic and the promising (but incomplete) tale of The Sith Lords on the PC and Xbox finally gets the pen and paper treatment in the latest edition of the Star Wars RPG.

The Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide sets the bar high for continued products in Wizards of the Coast’s Star Wars SAGA line by providing an excellent and well constructed overview of the mid-republic era.

While many players seem to favor the romantic conflicts of rebels and empire I’ve always been far more a fan of the far past of George Lucas’ universe. Partially, I think because Lucas himself is not around to despoil it with furry teddy bears toppling elite shock troopers and Rastafarian space klutzes. The Knights of the Old Republic setting portrays the galaxy far, far away during a turbulent time.

Early in the setting the Jedi hold sway but they aren’t the stale, stoic Jedi of the prequel trilogy. The order is disparate and scattered and one of many force using factions in the Republic. There are countless pressures and numerous foes who can stand up next to the Jedi in power so running a game in this era definitely feels more balanced and easily allows players to mix and match character types with ease.

The KotOR Campaign Guide does everything a guide to running games during this time should. It introduces new races from the fiction that are in prominence during this time frame, granting players even more options. It introduces technological equivalents to the beloved modern Star Wars tech like the predecessors of R2 and C-3PO, the Corellian YT-1300 and everything casual fans will know from the films but that were not around hundreds of years before The Phantom Menace.

The history of the era is well defined and laid out. Factions like the Mandalorians, Sith and Republic all get sections of the book devoted to explaining their role in a KotOR campaign and optional classes, powers and abilities unique to the era and the time. Characters from the two games and even the Dark Horse series are liberally ingrained throughout the book. Ever wonder what Darth Traya’s stats were? What about Zayne Carrick or Master Lucien Draay and his Jedi Covenant? Along with the descriptions you also get explanations for how to integrate these concepts into your games.

The best thing about the book has to be that it introduces an era where the players need not feel cramped by the “Big three” roaming around saving the universe. The Jedi Civil War, Mandalorian Invasion, Sith War and Dark War all provide great backdrops for just about any sort of Star Wars game without hamstringing you regarding the role your character will play in helping Han, Luke or Leia save the galaxy or fending off the Yuuhzan Vong invasion.

If there is a failing in this product it is simply that it can’t please everyone. The ancient Sith era, and the happenings of the old Tales of the Jedi comics are mentioned but not truly highlighted here. This is a book about the more recent Old Republic tales. Nomi Sunrider, Freedon Nadd and his uprising get mentions, but entities like Darth Bane are nowhere to be found in these pages.

Fans of the older era are best left finding a used copy of the classic D6 Tales of the Jedi source book and converting that information themselves. There is also a lack of information on Jedi and Sith artifacts, though Sith Alchemy and the special lightsaber crystals represented in the video games get game rules to reflect the variance in lightsaber tech during the KotOR era.

There are a number of additional campaign guides coming soon, including the delayed The Force Unleashed book that promises to open up the Jedi power base a lot. If Wizards’ staff can maintain this level or usefulness and quality in these products they will be easy to recommend.

]]>http://www.gamefront.com/the-analog-gamer-knights-legends/feed/0The Analog Gamer: Galactic Threatshttp://www.gamefront.com/the-analog-gamer-galactic-threats/
http://www.gamefront.com/the-analog-gamer-galactic-threats/#commentsFri, 01 Aug 2008 13:01:19 +0000Shawn Sineshttp://news.filefront.com/?p=27108I realize its been a few weeks since the last installment of The Analog Gamer but E3 and this little thing called a vacation got in the way, so this week instead of continuing our analysis of Super heroes since I figure many readers have even forgotten that was the plan I thought I’d do a quick geek out session and talk about the recently released book of trouble for the Star Wars SAGA system – Threats of the Galaxy.

While every RPG seemingly requires a book of monsters and enemies for game runners to use as opponents in their homespun adventures, Threats of the Galaxy has a slightly different approach than what we’ve seen in the past. I credit this difference to the approach players and storytellers have to take with a game like Star Wars. Despite the setting’s fantastic elements it is not quite the “Monty Haul” game that its cousin Dungeons & Dragons is, or at least I don’t think it should be anyway.

D&D seemingly was built to be a kill the monster, save the princess, get “Phat loot” sort of system. Taking the lead of George Lucas’ films and the expanded universe content surrounding them, Star Wars can cover the same ground but when was the last time anyone thought Luke or Han was in it for the +4 Lightsaber or the Biker Scout’s Stomrtooper armor?

The same can be said for the enemies in Star Wars.While most of the movie’s antagonists were generic white shelled clone shocktroops there were also bounty hunters and giant space slugs that got in the gang’s way on the road to overthrowing the corrupt Empire and its evil Sith leaders, unique challenges that require a bit more diversity than a simple horde of orcs in a fantasy setting to remain interesting for Star Wars players.

Threats of the Galaxy delivers these diverse opponents. Expanding on the base foes detailed in the core Star Wars RPG, and with only slight reprinting for completeness I believe, it begins by helping storytellers design encounters. The short opening section expands on the quick and dirty instructions of the main rules and discusses elements like how environment can be utilized to make basic enemies more challenging or how variety can keep a game from getting too uninteresting for players. I mean after destroying a platoon of Stormtroopers in Clone Company 7 are you really all that excited the next time you encounter Clone Company 14?

The book itself breaks its rogues gallery into three basic categories: Characters, Creatures and Droids. Unlike most monster books, Threats introduces a rough character or creature type and then uses the wealth of Star Wars lore and characters to give practical examples for use in games. For instance in the section describing the core concept of a Dark Jedi the book also includes a section on The Reborn, a faction from the New Jedi Order time period and continues to include Dark Jedi Masters and a new character racial option.

Some of the character entries lack this expanded depth unfortunately (like the brawler and con artist) and that is one of the books failings – its just not long enough for me. I would have loved more details, more new feats, traits and races to give personality to even the generic enemy roles. Why not detail an interesting Gammorean Guard as an example of a thug, or a Lando Calrissian-like smooth talking con man?

I believe the choices came down to how much space the book provided. Unlike the D&D Monster Manual, the Star Wars line of books has so far been pretty slim on the page count while managing a fairly dense wordcount. The strange design of the books – with a more horizontal orientation than a vertical one is continued of course but the hardback books still feel a little light on content to me.

The creature and droid sections of the book follow similar design goals as the character section. New species and racial details or feats surround the more monster like creatures, while detail of droid models and equipment fill out the last section of the book. Were I judging the book purely on its page count of 160 pages I’d have problems recommending this for purchase, however the details and extra text that players and game masters alike can mine for characters and adversaries from just about every era of the Star Wars universe makes this a valuable addition the the Star Wars SAGA library for fans of that game.

Recently Wizards of the Coast released its upcoming Spring 2009 catalog and surprisingly it looks as though the Star Wars line will be getting a lot of attention. Aside from the previously revealed (and delayed) Star Wars: The Force Unleashed setting book it appears next year will bring us a Clone Wars setting book and one covering the popular Legacy era portrayed in the Darkhorse comics. Its been a long wait for many fans of the RPG for support like this but at least the force seems strong in 2009.

]]>http://www.gamefront.com/the-analog-gamer-galactic-threats/feed/0Drew Karpyshyn Talks KOTOR, Latest Bane Novelhttp://www.gamefront.com/drew-karpyshyn-talks-kotor-latest-bane-novel/
http://www.gamefront.com/drew-karpyshyn-talks-kotor-latest-bane-novel/#commentsWed, 25 Jun 2008 19:30:55 +0000Shawn Sineshttp://news.filefront.com/?p=25221Drew Karpyshyn, author and writer for the Knights of the Old Republic video game, talks about working with BioWare and his Science fiction including the Darth Bane Star Wars novels.

Karpyshyn is very confident in his abilities and short comings as well. He revels in his “functionally ugly” website that he programed himself; as well as his part in bringing gamers KOTOR.

Hmmm… how can I say this without sounding arrogant? It actually felt more like I’d fallen into a position that my whole life had been leading up to. I’ve basically been a Star Wars fan for 30 years, and a role-playing game fan for 25, a video game fan for 20, and a writer/story teller my whole life. Obviously I appreciate how lucky I was to find the opportunity, but it almost felt inevitable once I was in the position.

Karpyshyn fields questions on his work with Wizards of the Coast and on being published. In addition to his Darth Bane series, he’s novelized Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal. Read up on this author on Galaticbinder.com.

]]>http://www.gamefront.com/drew-karpyshyn-talks-kotor-latest-bane-novel/feed/0The Analog Gamer: Bar Brawlerhttp://www.gamefront.com/the-analog-gamer-bar-brawler/
http://www.gamefront.com/the-analog-gamer-bar-brawler/#commentsThu, 08 May 2008 14:59:03 +0000Shawn Sineshttp://news.filefront.com/the-analog-gamer-bar-brawler/Its been a few weeks since we’ve had a regular installment but this week I thought it would be interesting to talk about a few random news items along with a quick review of the Wizards of the Coast produced card and dice game – Inn-Fighting.

Inn-Fighting Price: $14.99 Release Date: October 2007

Not sure what you want to do tonight? Maybe one of your regular players has decided not to show up and you’re left holding the game on their account. Well I can heartily recommend Inn-Fighting as a great way to keep the game group focused on the fantasy RPG elements without having to break your back on story and plotting.

Inn-Fighting is a dice and card game that is meant to simulate the wildest bar fight in the world. Players draw from a small selection of adventurer cards and then abruptly begin to bash and beat the other players at the table with the table. The goal of the game is to defeat enough opponents in the brawl that you accumulate 20 victory points. Points are gained by defeating bystanders or opponents and the game does an excellent job of introducing unique characters with often humorous special abilities into the fray.

Each adventurer has a few attack values, one for punching, one for chair attacks and a special attack and defense that comes into play based on the dice you roll every turn. The dice themselves are customized for play just with the Inn-Fighting set and include carved symbols that determine what action a player may take. The mechanic is a little hard to explain in a review but basically the first player rolls 5 dice, composed of 4 white and one red dice. The symbols on the dice determine if a player will attack the opponent to the left, right or the lucky sap who is currently in the lead.

Two special symbols also allow you to heal or draw an action card, which can either introduce a follower or “bystander” to your brawling team or give you some interesting instant play abilities. There is a bit of strategy involved in choosing your attacks since players pass any dice that feature the two special symbols on until anyone cashes in those dice and all dice are rerolled.

My description probably does not do enough justice to how fun and simple the game is to pick up and play. Like Steve Jackson’s Munchkin it’s always fun to make light of the fantasy RPG conceits and Inn-Fighting and its colorful barfighting simulation can make even the best of friends devious rivals in the search for the ultimate victory point total.

Inn-Fighting is a fast game, round usually last between 20-40 minutes and the group I played the game with was happy to go through four or five hands in lieu of a single D&D session. While I’ve not played Wizard’s other pick up game, Three Dragon Ante, Inn-Fighting has made me consider this as a future purchase.

Clone Invasion It appears that this summer the Clone Wars will not only continue on the big screen but also on the tabletops of Star Wars Miniature players. Lucasarts and Wizards of the Coast announced that the setting of the upcoming movie and TV series will be introduced as the fall expansion for the popular “plastic death” game. With the Legacy of the Force based expansion just seeing release and the upcoming “Knights of the Old Republic” focused expansion hitting stores in August, the Clone Wars will come to life on November.

Wizards of the Coast is expanding its line of popular Star Wars Miniatures and Roleplaying Games this year, debuting new products based on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the new animated feature and television series from Lucasfilm Animation, and to extend the storylines popularized in the numerous Star Wars movies, novels and comic books.

The highly detailed, pre-painted Miniatures are not only valuable collectibles; they are part of a highly tactical strategy game incorporating hundreds of characters from across the Star Wars universe. Together with the Roleplaying Game, these Star Wars products give fans a truly immersive experience.

March 28th marked the release of Legacy of the Force(TM), a 60-figure Miniatures set based primarily on the popular Star Wars: Legacy Dark Horse comic book series. With this set, fans will continue to re-enact the Republic’s struggle to maintain order years after the Battle of Yavin.

August continues another popular comic book theme — Knights of the Old Republic(TM) — with a 60-figure Miniatures set exploring the tale of the Republic 4,000 years before the original movies, when Sith Lords and Jedi Knights clashed and invading Mandalorians threatened the Galaxy. Each set contains iconic characters, vehicles, and beasts from the various storylines for a truly comprehensive Star Wars experience.

Gleemax Games Goes Alpha

Alongside the upcoming D&D Insider, Wizards of the Coast is also giving the digital game treatment to some of its other traditional game offerings through it’s Gleemax gaming portal. While up until now Gleemax has been mostly about social networking and discussion boards, the introduction of the virtual gametable seems imminent as Gleemax introduces the Alpha versions of some popular boardgames. These games can now be played online sans plastic chips and cards against anyone anywhere and at any time.

“The alpha release of Gleemax Games is the next step in rolling out our Gleemax vision,” said Randy Buehler, VP of Digital Games at Wizards of the Coast. “For board gamers, this is an evolution in play, uniting old and new friends with a 24 hour online experience. In addition, we are providing the first taste of our independent spirit with Desktop Tower Defense, with more indie titles to be rolled out over the coming year. This is just an alpha test, but I think it points to where we are heading with our games, and our style of game play.”

Featured games at the Alpha release include:

Axis & Allies is the classic board game of war, economics, and strategy. Players represent the military and economic destinies of Germany, Japan, England, the Soviet Union, and the USA in a board game that requires an unmatched level of strategy and tactical thinking in order to win.

RoboRally is famed game designer Richard Garfield’s take on robots and racing. As factory robots, players pit their automations against each other in a frantic, destructive race across laser-filled, chasm ridden factory floors to earn the honor, the glory and the grudging respect of the other robots. Up to eight players can participate in this online robotic deathmatch.

In Vegas Showdown the stakes are high as you compete with friends online to build the most famous hotel and casino in the heart of Las Vegas. Each of you has one year to plan and build a luxury hotel/casino on the site. Resources are limited, so players will have to outbid and outmaneuver the competition to get the right combination of restaurants, lounges, gaming rooms and other attractions to turn their casino into the jewel of the Entertainment Capital of the World.

2008 Gleemie award winner Desktop Tower Defense is the first-in-class example of the exploding tower defense online gaming genre. Players buy, place and upgrade their defense towers to kill “creeps” as they make their way across the battlefield toward the exit in a race against the oncoming hoards. The short-form addictive gameplay will have you hooked in the first five minutes.

Looks like it just might be time to find out if my masterful strategy to defeat Russia in two turns works just as well online. For more information visit Gleemax or the Alpha Games Portal